Second strike for Royal Mail

Posted: July 2nd, 2007 by Marketscan 0

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Royal Mail experienced its second strike in a week today following the announcement that many post offices would have their services transferred to WH Smiths.

Action was limited, however, as of the possible 85 "crown" or main post offices, only about 13 were closed.

Major disruption was avoided as smaller or "sub" post offices were unaffected by the dispute, although there could be some backlog of post which was not sorted while workers demonstrated between 06:00 BST and midday.

Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) national officer Andy Furey said workers had been left with no choice.

"Members have been left with no alternative but to take strike action as management is steam-rolling ahead with closures of crown post offices across the UK," he said.

The changes will see crown post offices replaced by post office counters at nearby branches of WH Smith, which will leave some 1,500 Royal Mail employees without a job.

Today’s strike is separate from that held by the CWU on Friday, which crippled postal deliveries across the country.